A Secret to Die For (8) by Sierra Dean

Author:Sierra Dean [Dean, Sierra]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Urban, Vampires, Werewolves, Fiction, Fantasy, apocalypse, walking dead.
ISBN: 9781619214477
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Published: 2014-12-16T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

Things below had gone from bad to worse while we were busy hatching plans indoors. Even the few short blocks between the hotel and council headquarters were now thick with jostling bodies. It was like stepping outside during rush hour, except these commuters were corpses.

Holden—my designated vampire—stood next to me in the lobby entrance as we surveyed the situation. The air was thick with heat, and it was doing nothing to help the stench coming off the dead. An extra day had caused advanced decay to set in, especially with those who’d been hastily prepared for burial.

The bodies themselves were looking worse too. Exposure wasn’t doing them any favors, and many of them were showing advanced signs of decomposition. Skin peeled away from their faces and arms, leaving exposed teeth and bone.

“Now they look like zombies,” I observed.

“They didn’t look like zombies before? When they were, you know, the walking dead?” Holden asked.

“You’re the walking dead. They’re like movie zombies now.”

“Firstly, I take offense to that statement. I’m too pretty to be called dead, thank you.” The cheeky wink he gave me buoyed my spirits. I guess our time with the vampire council had showed him there were bigger enemies for us to worry about than each other. For the time being, at least, we were on friendly footing.

It would make the next part of our journey a lot easier.

“What’s second?” I asked.

“They’re the same dead they were yesterday. They might have scarier faces, more like zombies or what have you, but they’re still not zombies. They’re meat puppets at best.”

I took a steadying breath and watched the tide of bodies stagger past us. None of them seemed aware or concerned about our presence. I was tempted to reach out and touch one, but I didn’t know how the necros were working them or what the connection was.

The rot had allowed more of them use of their mouths because their lips had decomposed, meaning more of them were able to use their teeth. They might not be zombies, but I still didn’t want any of them to bite me.

“Can you feel anything?”

“I’m not a bloodhound.” He rolled his eyes. “The sensation is there, it’s been there since they first showed up. It’s like white noise at this point, present but not something that bothers me too much anymore. I’ll be able to tell the difference when we get closer.”

“Did it feel different when we were in the bar?”

He gave me a tight nod. “Much. Imagine a swarm of bees inside your skull, flying and crawling and stinging you. Imagine it getting worse the closer you got to the source.”

It sounded an awful lot like a panic attack, except my bees were in my stomach more than my brain, which was definitely not a feeling I wished on anyone.

We waited for a gap in the crowd, then slipped out of the hotel. Six groups had left before us, including Desmond and Clementine and Lucas and Sig. That particular pairing set

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